Board of Visitors clash over DEI during Executive Committee Special Session, express Cadet concerns with training

&emsp;&emsp;On October 24, 2022, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Board of Visitors Executive Committee held a hastily scheduled in-person meeting starting at 2:00 PM. The open portions of the meeting were not available virtually, but were available to the public who traveled to Lexington. The published agenda for the meeting listed only "welcome & opening remarks; discuss current issues & matters applicable to VMI; closed session pursuant to VA Code 2.2-3711 (A)(1); other business; and adjournment" as the topics. &emsp;&emsp;In the October 26, 2022 BOV published update, BOV President Thomas Watjen '76 wrote he was "providing information on the key topics addressed at the Special Executive Committee Oct. 24," citing that, "There has been heightened concern and attention among members of the VMI Board of Visitors and the VMI alumni family on a number of topics—among them, Inclusive Excellence training, admissions efforts, and the marketing and branding of VMI." Mr. Watjen's update referred readers to the published meeting minutes but said the meeting, attended by the Board Executive Committee, other members of the Board of Visitors, staff, faculty, a parent of a current cadet, a member of the community, and representatives of the VMI Alumni Agencies, covered the topics of current admissions efforts and Inclusive Excellence, the re-branded term for DEI, training before the BOV transitioned into the closed session. According to the minutes, the BOV "turned back to some of the issues discussed in the open session and reviewed any potential personnel issues/needs to be addressed to help us achieve our objectives. Given the challenging circumstances we have faced in the past couple of years, it is important we consider the status of the whole team as well." &emsp;&emsp;Lt. Col. Joe Hagy, VMI's new director of admissions, provided what Mr. Watjen termed a "deep dive" for approximately one hour into admissions issues and objectives for VMI Mr. Watjen described as a "detailed strategy on every step of the process was impressive, to say the least. After only a few weeks at the helm, he provided a strong and thorough review of the current issues and a broad spectrum of new initiatives." Admission will be the subject of a more detailed future article in The Cadet, but the slides used by Lt. Col. Hagey for his presentation are available online and through the BOV website. &emsp;&emsp;For Inclusive Excellence (DEI) training Mr. Watjen wrote "This deep dive was regarding the future course and processes for training. While much has been accomplished to meet the objectives set by the board in 2021, members expressed concern that there is still a need for improvement regarding the timing of events, the selection of content, and the request to aspire to a balanced approach to Inclusive Excellence initiatives, similar to other mandatory training for Cadets, such as Title IX training." &emsp;&emsp;According to a transcript from a recording of the meeting for the DEI portion of the meeting obtained by The Cadet from a link published by the Washington Post, the discussion between VMI Superintendent Maj. Gen. Wins and some BOV members covered those members' concerns over a recent DEI speaker for the celebration of 25 years of women in the VMI Corps and the Inclusive Excellence training session BOV Member Lara Chambers attended with members of the Corps. &emsp;&emsp;During his introduction, Mr. Watjen introduced the subject of the speaker, Ms Kimberly Dark, stating the group would "talk about the excellent speaker we had last weekend". Maj. Gen. Wins followed and, opened the discussion by addressing the controversy over the recent DEI speaker, &emsp;&emsp;I guess the first thing I did want to touch upon was just kind of some of the conversations that took place with respect the last week's speaker that came into VMI as part of the Inclusive Excellence Program. The, uh, Ph.D. level sociologist by the name of Kimberly Dark. And, kind of, some of the conversations centered around Ms. Dark, uh, and some of the conversations that centered around Ms. Dark's arrival here at VMI. So, uh, the first thing is that there have been a series of events that have been planned to occur, kind of built around the celebration of 25 years of VMI going co-ed. &emsp;&emsp;The first one took place, early September, which for those who attended and were part of, probably had an excess of 200 women alumnae that came back to the Institute and, um, that event was well received. It was, uh, a lot of engagement going on between the women alumnae but, uh, many of the cadets who had the opportunity to participate in that event. And, um, there were at least three panels that took place, that had, and everyone of those panels had women alumnae, uh, probably about eight to ten women on at least one, that first panel that that took place. Entrepreneurship I believe was another one. Professional development. So we did that event. We shifted to another event. This event actually was conceived based on feedback that Jamica Love got, from cadets in the... a… in the barracks about bringing someone who could bring their perspective about the LGBTQI community based on their experiences in barracks. Uh, Lara was here last Friday for one of our improvement training, appreciate you being there. To kind of put her eyes on the training to see how it goes, see how it's facilitated by cadets, see how and gain an understanding of the various topics, uh, that, uh, that the cadets go through. &emsp;&emsp;So, um, Miss Dark was the, uh, the invited guest. Miss Dark came to share her perspective as a person in that community as a writer, author as well as a storyteller. She's, uh, nationally recognized speaker, uh, on this particular topic. So she came to the Institute as a part of that, engaging to talk about issues related to and, as she framed it, issues related to body image, and challenges that, um, women deal with, uh, in terms of their body image, their ability to meet standards. And so that was how that was billed. She came, she did a presentation, I think, many of the Board Members have had the opportunity to video. &emsp;&emsp;But, uh, I would argue that, uh, two things that I took away, having watched the video, because I was not present for the engagement. Two things that I took away from the video were, number one, how she navigated the topic of dealing with her personal experience, her retrospective, body-image, and that, uh, as a woman who is in the LGBTQ community, but more importantly, was the discourse, the conversations, the questions that were asked by cadets, and it was exactly what I would expect from members of our Corps to do. &emsp;&emsp;Some controversy arose prior to Ms. Dark's presentation that Maj. Gen. Wins, in a letter to alumni, addressed as, "there has been a group of unhappy alumni who want to stoke the worst fears and sow seeds of discord about the training and education of students here." &emsp;&emsp;A review of Ms. Dark' website (https://www.kimberlydark.com/) and her contract to speak at VMI reviewed by The Cadet does not document a Ph.D as Maj. Gen. Wins stated and a request to Ms. Dark to confirm her academic credentials from The Cadet did not receive a response. Ms. Dark did receive a B.A. from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 1989, and an M.A. in Sociology from Cal State San Marcos in 1998. Her website and others do detail her national and international speaking and performing experience as Maj. Gen. Wins referred to. Her presentations include the San Diego Central Library, Stuttgart University, University of Alaska (Fairbanks), The Butch Femme Chronicles: Discussions With Women Who Are Not Like Me (and Some Who Are); True Confessions of a Lesbian Diva; Stripped and Teased: Scandalous Stories With Subversive Subplots; and Dykeotomy and Things I Learned from Fat People on the Plane. A sample of her listed performances include the Dirty Queer Conference; Seattle Erotic Arts Festival; and the Bad and Nasty Conference, Gender, Race and Money; Is that a Dude? Inside Lesbian Gender: It's More Complex than You Think; and Becoming the Subject of Your Own Story (Rather Than The Object Of Another's Gaze). Ms Dark is listed as a Sociology faculty member at California State University, San Marcos. &emsp;&emsp;According to her website Ms. Dark came to VMI to be "…the keynote speaker for this event regarding gender and sexual orientation-in particular addressing the ways in which women and LGBTQ+ cadets, along with those who struggle to meet the height/weight requirements of the military are still targeted for unfair treatment." According to her speaking contract Ms Dark's Speaking guidance from VMI's DEI office, "Our preferred focus is for Ms. Dark to talk about Gender Equity and Inclusion but if she has stories that also touch on LGBTQ+ Inclusion and body image we would appreciate that as well" and "Women cadets and LGBTQ+ cadets are unfairly targeted on Jodel, an anonymous social media app. Cadets who struggle to meet the height/weight requirements of the military are also targeted." During her presentations, Dark noted she gained most of her knowledge of VMI by reviewing the Institute on Wikipedia before her visit. VMI paid Ms. Dark $5,000 plus travel lodging and meals for the event. &emsp;&emsp;Following Maj. Gen. Wins comments there was additional discussion on speakers in general at VMI as well as future DEI speakers before BOV member Ms. Lara Chambers returned to the topic of Ms. Dark, with her concerns on the presentation that led into additional concerns on the DEI training itself. Ms Chamber's observations came both from her audit of a DEI training session with Rats and issues raised by Cadets during that training session. &emsp;&emsp;My biggest problem was how flat-footed I was caught when people contacted me on Friday about her and I combed the VMI websites for diversity, the Institute calendar, you know, the CLE and it was nowhere on there where she was coming to speak and she's for dinner in the CLE and so it gave perception, and I think this is one thing that adds to, you know, alumni being disgruntled, it gave a perception, or you know, the impression that you guys are trying to kind of get it under the table. This is obviously a sensitive subject right now, a heads up for the BOV or just anyone. Just make it public, you know. If you wanna have someone like this one, then own it. It wasn't like this lady was coming in and speaking in the classroom. She was speaking in the CLE, for a dinner and it wasn't anywhere on any of the Institute calendars. &emsp;&emsp;I don't know how much we paid her, but I'm sure it was a pretty penny because I know our training session last year was twenty grand! And that's a lot of money, and I think I told you, as nice as our training session was, you know, to me it wasn't worth a thousand dollars, and it was almost kind of insulting. You know, we're a bunch of executives and generals, and of course, we know how to conduct ourselves. But again, nice to bring to the forefront of our mind, but that's a lot of money and we're paying, I'm sure we gave her a great penny, and I know in athletics alone, we're already $300,000 in the hole. &emsp;&emsp;Like, I would have rather, the twenty thousand of our training money last year go toward our football team being able to sleep in their own beds. And we're already three hundred thousand in the hole for athletics, and we know by the end of the year, it will probably be double that, if not, triple that. I mean, I hope not, and from what I understand, it's not a one-time thing. It's going to be a yearly thing. And now we're requesting even more money for DEI. Like how much are we requesting right now? Someone had told me $800,000 dollars for DEI. &emsp;&emsp;Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins responded, "So budget request, all the BP (SP?) execs sent in budget requests. Dr. Love's budget request was, on par with the other guidance… I'm sure it was less than these requests, and given the budget constraints, that budget request, that she put in was not approved at that level. She needs a budget. She needs to know what her budget is in order to execute her program. So, I think, um that's how we put out the budget. But it wasn't- she's not executing it at $800,000 [inaudible]." &emsp;&emsp;Ms. Chambers countered with further concerns about DEI funding and the program given VMI's increasing budget deficit, "I just think a heads up on things like this, the type of numbers that get out. That I know someone's gonna come back and be like "$800,000 for DEI? Like, really are you serious?" We're not even sure, I mean I did, I just came up for a class. I'm not even a hundred percent….while we've gotten better… I'm not a hundred percent sure we're still doing it right. I mean, there was clearly cadets leaving that class disgruntled. They [Cadets] were mad they were there and now I think that it's not terrible to have those classes, but is it doing more harm than good?" &emsp;&emsp;Ms. Chambers detailed more of her concerns based on her personal observations and interaction with cadets during the DEI training she attended. This included concerns raised by cadets themselves during the training. According to Ms. Chambers, &emsp;&emsp;Again, I said it a thousand times. I would have been horrified if any of my BR had to go to a class to learn to be nice to me. I'd rather earn their respect, you know, it's 8:00 a.m. and they're there and they're being bribed with candy to participate. And then there was a cadet, and these were Rats, who spoke up and he said, 'am I going to have… how many times am I going to come to this?' And they said, 'once or twice a year' and he said, 'oh, great'. And the facilitator said, 'well you'd you ask that?' and he said, 'Oh, I'm just happy to be here and to participate in these discussions.' &emsp;&emsp;And I couldn't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic, and this is after a couple of other comments, that happened during the class, and then he just - I thought we were just gonna be dismissed - but he couldn't help himself and he said, you know he was injured, he had a broken arm, and he said, 'you know, I just love giving up my optional to get some clearly needed rest to come down here and do this. And I just want to make sure that I don't have to come back again.' And, why was he asking about it? What's he asking that? Because he's afraid he has to come back? Is he being made to come back if he doesn't participate? You know, these are all... [crosstalk] &emsp;&emsp;Maj. Gen. Wins countered Ms. Chambers saying, "I'm not sure what 'optional' is. His optional is time in which a whole host of training is typically scheduled. So, it could be anywhere from Title IX training, it could be training that is part of the Inclusive Excellence program, Honor Court, so we can do a full range of things, so that time is not optional to the cadets or something sketchy, first of all." &emsp;&emsp;Ms. Chambers continued to express her own concerns, those she heard from Cadets, an especially how Cadets were treated during the training she attended, "SUre, and O get that.," she stated, "I'm talking about the class doing more harm than good. I mean, we were talking about women dressing appropriately for this very very, very conservative school – I know that is ridiculous - and, um, if, you know, one cadet tried to speak up, and say 'hey I had a hard time playing devils' advocate, um, you know and talking about, cause I'm not a woman', and immediately he was, you know, met with 'well, you're gonna have to deal with women, you're gonna have to deal with this in the real world', and I could see him kind of retract. And then another cadet spoke up and he said, 'my group we're very one-sided' so, again he had a hard time talking about it, and immediately it was, 'well you're gonna have to deal with this. You're gonna have to deal with this in the real world' and so he was retracted. It just this animosity in this aggravation kind of built up." &emsp;&emsp;The recording available of the BOV meeting does not show Ms. Chambers received a complete response to her inquiry and the questions raised by the Cadet in the class she attended regarding if Cadets will be required to take additional DEI classes or come back if they don't participate. &emsp;&emsp;Additional clarification is found in a review of Maj. Gen. Wins' "Just the Facts" publication wherein he states cadets are required to attend DEI training, but they are not required to participate in the training session, "Although attendance has been required, cadets are not required or compelled to participate. Any reports counter to this expectation were swiftly reviewed and addressed." However, a copy of the Inclusive Excellence Facilitators Guide provided to The Cadet shows cadets who do not participate or who question the training could be the subject of some action. Per the guide, facilitators instructed, under "Best Practices": 3. Take good attendance. Cadets that are late cannot sign the roster and will need to attend a makeup session. Additionally, cadets who are on their phones or not participating in the activity do not get credit. Ask them to participate fully, if they do not, make a note on the roster. 4. If a cadet is upset, get the cadet's name and email the DEI Office after the session. We will follow up with support if needed. &emsp;&emsp;Ms. Chambers reference to cadets being "bribed with candy" refers to the facilitator instructions to, "11. Make sure to walk around the room supervising the conversations. Give out candy when you hear a great question or interaction" and "13…Pass out candy to those who volunteer to speak." &emsp;&emsp;In researching the questions on Women in the Corps Ms. Chambers referenced from her participation in a recent class, the following questions were found in the Inclusive Excellence Facilitators guide: Why are you not able to focus on schoolwork when girls show skin?I can't control myself, if I see skin I am going to look and then I stop focusing on school and learning because I am looking at skin so they should just cover it up. How do you think it makes girls feel when you are controlling what they wear?Well, it's honestly safer for girls to have a dress code so they should also want a dress code. All of this sexual assault stuff is crazy when people say they did it because of what they were wearing. Like dress codes help girls not get sexually assaulted because they won't be wearing revealing clothes making guys look and want to do something. Why can't you control your urges instead?I'm a guy. Boys will be boys. I can't control myself around them if they are wearing revealing clothes. They should stop wearing these clothes to prevent us from looking. It's not our fault. It's up to the girls to keep it under control and cover-up. What evidence do you have to support that dress codes lower sexual assault or harassment?I don't have evidence off of the top of my head, it's just common sense. If girls are wearing more clothes, fewer guys will want to do something with them. Hence, the cases of sexual assault or harassment will go down. One final question relates closely to VMI and its integration of women. Well regardless of sexual assault, if you can wear whatever you want, why can't a girl do the same thing?My clothes aren't distracting to anyone. How do you know they aren't distracting anyone? I don't but it isn't my problem if it's distracting. &emsp;&emsp;The Facilitator's guide also includes a series of questions under the header "Women = Lower Standards", and a sample of possible responses a person who makes an offensive joke may give when given questions such as to why the they thought the joke was funny. &emsp;&emsp;As the discussion continued Mr. Watjen, BOV, attempted to insert himself during Ms Chambers comments at which time Ms. Chambers returned to addressing the significant cost of the DEI program, "This Rat, hold on, Mr. Watjen. This Rat, you know, finally built up and was a little upset. And I think we need to be very careful with who we invite here and these classes and just make sure that we're doing it right. And this is a lot of money going out the door. A lot of money and at hletics need it. And you're such so passionate about athletics. I just don't understand why we can't put that money towards getting our football players rest or something like that so they can win some games and recover and that's being a huge morale builder.." &emsp;&emsp;Another BOV member, Mr. Lester Johnson, defended the DEI program and responded to Ms. Chambers, that "I got some, I guess my question, I guess, Lara, you said something about more harm than good. Who would you assume -- or I guess just so for clarification, because I'm trying to make sure I understand what you're saying. You say more harmful for good. Who do you feel like is being harmed by classes, I guess? And who do you think is being benefited by Classes?" &emsp;&emsp;Ms Chambers responded, "Well, as a female, I worry that those males went back and just, you know, just festered. It's too much. You know, there's an animosity that's built and that wasn't there before. And now all of a sudden it is because they have to go to this class and they're dreading going to this class, and if they don't participate, they have to come back. And so they do participate, you know, that was clear. And I just want to make sure that we're doing it right so that we don't build those animosities." &emsp;&emsp;To this Mr. Johnson countered, "Well, I guess, I guess that's the confusing part because there already seems to be animosity in the Corps. I know I can't really speak from the woman's perspective, but I know that, again, from just talking from some African American alumni. Again, this stuff is being - there's been an animosity there for a minute, you know, not even, and you know this from, even just from the athletic side. So I guess when we say more harm than good, I guess my question would be what do we do? Do we just not do anything?" to which Ms. Chambers concluded, "I just think that we should be careful with the amount of money that we're throwing around and make sure that we're doing it right before we invite, you know, people to come and speak. And we don't even have it right ourselves yet." &emsp;&emsp;The discussions continued, showing divisions even within the BOV on speakers, the continually changing DEI program, how VMI is dealing with alumni and other critics, and other related areas before the BOV moved on to other topics and the admissions briefing. No decisions were made on these topics during the open session and The Cadet will continue to monitor the BOV's actions in this area as well as actively seek input from the Corps on these important subjects for future reporting.